Cyber Letter

Mr. Michael Blumert
Jagulana Herbal Products
50891 Hogback Road #A
Post Office Box 45
Badger, California 93603

Ref. No. CL-02-HFS-810-26

Dear Mr. Blumert:

This is to advise you that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed your web sites at the Internet addresses: http://immortalityherb.com and www.jiaogulan.net and has determined that the product "Jiaogulan" being offered is promoted for conditions that cause the product to be a drug under section 201(g)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) [21 USC 321(g)(1)]. The therapeutic claims on your web sites establish that the product is a drug because it is intended for use in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease. The continued marketing of this product with these claims violates the Act and may subject you or the products to regulatory action without further notice.

Examples of some of the claims observed on your web sites include:

Claims found under "Jiaogulan and Cholesterol link": "Cholesterol-lowering drugs may be successful in reducing cholesterol numbers, but not without uncomfortable or sometimes dangerous side effects. … In contrast, jiaogulan and other natural products have been successful in lowering cholesterol, without the fear of uncomfortable or potentially hazardous side effects."

Claims found under "Health Benefits" link:

"Jiaogulan has been widely reported to be effective in the treatment of hypertension."

"While jiaogulan is great for lowering cholesterol, it’s also good for obesity problems…."

"The results of many scientific studies show that jiaogulan’s powerful antioxidant quality protects against free radical damage that very often leads to a variety of maladies such as cancer, atherosclerosis, diabetes, liver disease, arthritis, senility, heart attack, and stroke."

Furthermore, FDA has no information that your product is generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced conditions and therefore, the product may also be a "new drug" under section 201 (p) of the Act [21 USC 321(p)]. New drugs may not be legally marketed in the U.S. without prior approval from FDA as described in section 505(a) of the Act [21 USC 355(a)]. FDA approves a new drug on the basis of scientific data submitted by a drug sponsor to demonstrate that the drug is safe and effective.

FDA is aware that Internet distributors may not know that the products they offer are regulated as drugs or that these drugs are not in compliance with the law. Many of these products may be legally marketed as dietary supplements or as cosmetics if therapeutic claims are removed from the promotional materials and the products otherwise comply with all applicable provisions of the Act and FDA regulations.

Under the Act, as amended by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), dietary supplements may be legally marketed with truthful and non-misleading claims to affect the structure or function of the body (structure/function claims), if certain conditions are met. However, claims that dietary supplements are intended to prevent, diagnose, mitigate, treat, or cure disease (disease claims), excepting health claims authorized for use by FDA, cause the products to be drugs. The intended use of a product may be established through product labels and labeling, catalogs, brochures, audio and videotapes, Internet sites, or other circumstances surrounding the distribution of the product. FDA has published a final rule intended to clarify the distinction between structure/function claims and disease claims. This document is available on the Internet at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/fr000106.html (codified at 21 C.F.R. 101.93(g)).

In addition, only products that are intended for ingestion may be lawfully marketed as dietary supplements. Topical products and products intended to enter into the body directly through the skin or mucosal tissues, such as transdermal or sublingual products, are not dietary supplements. For these products, both disease and structure/function claims may cause them to be new drugs.

Certain over-the-counter drugs are not new drugs and may be legally marketed without prior approval from FDA. Additional information is available in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR) Parts 310 and 330-358, which contain FDA's regulations on over-the-counter drugs.

This letter is not intended to be an all-inclusive review of your web sites and products your firm may market. It is your responsibility to ensure that all products marketed by your firm are in compliance with the Act and its implementing regulations.

If you need additional information or have questions concerning any products distributed through your web site, please contact FDA. You may reach FDA electronically (e-mail) at APope@CFSAN.FDA.GOV, or you may respond in writing to Angela F. Pope, Compliance Officer, Food and Drug Administration, Division of Compliance and Enforcement, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, Maryland 20740-3835. If you have any questions concerning any issue in this letter, please contact Mr. Paeng at (301) 436-2375.

Sincerely yours,

/s/

John B. Foret Director
Division of Compliance and Enforcement
Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling and Dietary Supplements
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition